Starting over again
by nikham3
Summary: Drake and Josh are 30 years old and have their own families... but will a recent disturbance in Drake's life make his family worse, or will he meet the one person that can make it all better? R&R please. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Drake and Josh

Disclaimer: Do you think I own this?

Drake woke up the next morning. At the age of 30, it brought tears to his eyes to see the empty space next to him in the bed. The space was then occupied by his three year old daughter Lola.

"Hey Lola!" Drake sucked his tears back into his eyes.

"Where's mommy?" Lola asked.

Drake started to cry, "Lola, I already told you. Your mommy's gone. She left. She thinks she can have a better man than me."

"You the manliestest man I knowed," Lola squeaked.

"I better be the only man you know!"

"Nuh-uh, what 'bout Joshy?"

Drake laughed at the mention of his brother's name. Lola never said Josh, it was always Joshy.

"Can we eat cheerios now?" Lola squealed.

On the way to drop Lola off at preschool, Drake called Josh on his cell phone.

Josh, also 30, picked up, "Hello?"

"Hey Mr. Family Man," Drake joked, "Wanna gimme some tips?"

"So she really left this time?" Josh said in a solemn voice.

"Last night after I put Lola to sleep. She told me she wanted someone more mature. Am I mature?"

"Well, you're not the most mature, but you're not the least mature. She's the one that married you."

"That's the thing…" Drake whispered. "We figured out that we weren't actually married. Marie said "A-choo" instead of "I do. The priest never recognized the marriage."

"Wow, so she took Lola with her?"

"Nope, she's in the back seat. Hold on, I'll call you back after I drop Lola off."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Drake ran in and handed Lola to the teacher and ran back to his beat up El Camino. He called Josh again.

"Hey, Josh, how's things with you?"

"Great, but I'd rather talk about your problems."

"I knew she was cheating… I just knew it. She would pretend to be sleeping on the couch but when I went to get a glass of water in the night she wouldn't be there. But when I woke up in the morning, there she was."

"It's okay, Drake, you'll find someone else."

"Easy for you to say. I'm 30 and I'm starting to look worse than when I was 16."

"Starting?" Josh laughed.

"Hey, I'm very bulnerable right now."

"The word is vulnerable."

"Ok, I'm at work; I'll talk to you later."

Drake took the elevator to his desk on the 12th floor of the San Diego skyscraper. He worked as an agent for small bands looking to hit it big time in the San Diego area. His first client was a group of boys with their lead singer a girl that wore holes in their jeans and tattoos on their arms.

"Hello," Drake greeted. "Your band name?"

"DNAB," the blonde boy answered.

"Any reason why?"

"Couldn't think of anything," the blonde boy replied. He appeared to be the leader of the group.

"Y'all skipping school?"

"Yup, what's it to ya?" the blonde boy answered.

"Nothing, it's cool. Can I have your first names?"

They went around in a circle, the brunette twins were Brian and Ryan, the blonde's name was Matt, and the goth in the background's name was Kyle. The lead singer's name was Marie. Drake choked back tears at the sound of the name.

"You okay buddy?" Matt asked.

Drake swallowed, "Yeah, had something caught in my throat. Anyways, my name is Drake and I will be your manager. Did ya bring a cd of your music?"

Kyle put it into the old boombox sitting on Drake's desk.


	2. Chapter 2

Drake really enjoyed listening to DNAB. They were an alternative rock group that had some interesting lyrics about high school.

"I really appreciate you guys taking Lola for the weekend," Drake sighed at Josh's house later that Friday night.

"No problem, brother," Josh laughed. "You're going to pick her up on Sunday at noon, right?"

"Yeah, I'll see you later guys. Thanks again!" Then Drake drove away in his El Camino to have some fun.

First stop he decided to try was the mall. He looked around all the stores that women liked that guys were still allowed to go to without getting weird glances from across the room. He had met several women, but none of them met his standards. He headed to the food court to chunk down some greasy food. In the burger line was a young woman of about 26, although Drake didn't want to guess older than she was. She had blonde hair andtan skin, looking like she lived on the beach. He decided she was the closest thing she was going to get of his standards. As they were both waiting for their food, Drake decided to make his move.

"Hey, I'm Drake," he said with a slightly shy voice.

"Dawn," she responded carelessly.

"Listen, are you seeing anyone?"

"Uh... no."

"Would you mind going to the beach with me?"

"As a date? I'd love to."

"How does burgers on the beach sound?"

"Yum. Are you from here?"

"Yeah, lived here my whole life. I'm surprised I haven't met you before, I've dated like every girl in California!" Drake laughed.

"Yeah, that's weird. I moved here ten years ago from Laguna Beach area."

So they took their food and got a nice sunny place on the beach to eat their fatty burgers. Drake was really starting to like Dawn, and he was pretty sure she was liking him too.

"Hey Dawn, have you ever dated a guy older than you?"

"Biggest age difference I've ever had was 3 years. Why?"

Drake sighed, hating to ask how old she was. "Well, I don't how to ask you this without sounding like a typical rude guy, but I don't want you to think I'm 26. I'm 30 and I have a 3 year old daughter named Lola. My wife left me recently and I've had a difficult time trying to find a woman, well, like you."

"Why'd she leave you? You sound like a lot of fun to be with to me."

"She said I was 'immature.' What does she know? She left me for Enrique, the Mexican who does the landscaping at our apartments."

"I'm 27," Dawn laughed. "Wow, Enrique musta been pretty spicy for her to pass you up!"

"Whatever." Drake laughed. "Dawn, do you, well, like me? You know, as someone you'd want to see regularly?"

"Drake, I've been dating for several years, and I've never met a guy that could spill out his emotions like you have. I'm really impressed and I can't wait to meet your daughter. I'd be happy to be your girlfriend."

"So do you wanna head in for the night, cuz I'm thinking the party's just begun!" He reached over to her to take her to his El Camino.

"Drake, wait. I didn't tell you before, but I am seeing someone. I lied to you because I wanted to see if you were worth it. I need to break up with him, now, before we can go any further."

"Here, use my cell..."

"No. Can you drive me to his house real quick, so I can break up with him?"

"Of course, Dawn." So he drove her to the house, then quickly drove around the corner so the boyfriend wouldn't see him. After half an hour, Dawn didn't come back, so he figured she had trouble finding him. He drove casually by the house, eagerly searching for her. He found her a block away, guzzling down a bottle of beer and black streaks of cheap mascara ran down her cheeks.

"Dawn? What happened?"

"He wuz wit anuder womun. He kickded me outta da hows cuz he sed I aint gud anuf!" she drunkly sobbed. Drake picked her slim body up and dropped the beer bottle. He laid her on the front seat tenderly and drove to Josh's house. He burst open the front door and dropped Dawn on the couch. He went to find Josh, and found Josh and Mindy scattering for their clothes.

"Dude!" Drake cried. "I'm scarred for life!"

"Which won't be long if you don't tell us why you didn't knock!" Mindy screeched.

He waited a few minutes, allowing time for Mindy and Josh to get dressed, and then showed them Dawn, lying unconscious on the couch.

Mindy laughed sarcastically. "Great, so you bang down our door at 10 o'clock to show us your drunk girlfriend drooling on our couch! Why didn't you bring her to your apartment?"

"Mindy, c'mon, Drake needs help," Josh argued. "What happened, did she just have a little too much to drink?"

"I think so. She was gone for half an hour, trying to break up with her boyfriend and then when I found her, she couldn't even talk!" Drake replied.

Mindy sighed, "Just pick her up so we can pull out the pull-out couch."

So Drake held the light body while Josh and Mindy clumsily pulled out the bed from the inside of the couch. Drake laid Dawn on the bed and climbed on himself. They all went to sleep for the night.

Bright and early the next day, Drake and Dawn were awakened by Josh's 4 year old daughter, Rachael, and his 1 year old son, Logan, along with Lola.

"Yay, Daddy's here!" Lola shouted. Lola jumped onto the weak mattress and on top of Drake.

Drake sat up and hugged his daughter. "Hey Lola, did you have fun with Rachael and Logan last night?"

Lola nodded. "Who dat Daddy?"

Drake laughed, "This is Dawn. She's my girlfriend."

"Is she mommy?"

"I can be Mommy," Dawn sleepily said, sitting up slowly. "Come here Lola." Lola hopped over to Dawn and gave her a great hug.

"Yay I gots a new mommy!"

"Aw crap. I didn't even think that Marie would possibly want custody of you. She's probably out filing a lawsuit right now. Josh, you gotta help me."

Josh was listening from the kitchen, "Oh yeah. Mindy can help you there. She's the lawyer."

"I kinda still need to figure out what happened last night?" Dawn stated in a question form. "Did I just get knocked over the head, cuz I got a nasty headache?"

"Well, you got drunk, but I think I mighta accidentally bumped your head against my car when I was trying to put you in," Drake answered.

"How many did I have!" Dawn asked.

"Dunno, you were probably drinking for half an hour."

"Gosh, STUPID!" Dawn smacked her forehead in anger. "I've been sober since January!" It was May. "Now I gotta start over!"

"I'll watch you. You're not getting outta my sight!" He got up to grab her a pain killer.

Dressed half an hour later, Dawn was feeling better and they were going shopping with $500 dollars from Mindy and Josh to buy Dawn some clothes. She was walking around in an old t-shirt of Drake's and a tight pair of jeans Drake had left over from Marie. They scored on some great deals and hit the food court once again. This time, they had Chinese food.

Sitting at the table with their food, Dawn insisted they prayed over the meal. Drake was thinking she was crazy, but he went along with it. After the prayer, Drake spoke up, "You know Dawn. I haven't even kissed you yet."

Dawn's eyes lit up. "Then let's get started!" They kissed happily in the food court while others stared. When they pulled away, Drake laughed.

"Dawn, I have to tell you something. I love you."

"Drake, I'm pretty sure I love you too."

End of Chapter 2. I had trouble thinking of quality traits for Dawn, but I kind of like the way she turned out, don't you? I think Drake would need someone like this. Anyways, review, and I know drunkly is not in the dictionary. I just couldn't think of anything!


	3. Chapter 3

"Drake, I need to talk to you," Dawn said as Drake picked up the phone the next morning.

"Alright, I'll be over as soon as I drop Lola off at Josh's house."

An hour later, he stood at the front door of the hotel she was staying in. After being kicked out of her only house, and most of her possessions were kept by her ex-boyfriend, she had no where to live. The door opened and Dawn motioned for Drake to step inside. They sat down on the floral patterned, rough couches.

"Drake, I think I made a mistake yesterday. My life is just so jumbled right now, and I wanted to find the right solution. The thing is, I think we're moving way too fast. We've only known each other for a couple of days, and I'm just not sure I should've told you I loved you, because I'm not sure I do," Dawn sighed.

"Oh," Drake sat back on the couch.

"I'm sorry; don't take it the wrong way. I still really like you, and I hope someday I will love you."

"I understand. It's just, I feel like we have more in common than you know. We've both suffered horrible break-ups, and I think we were just using each other to try to make up for it."

"I feel the same way."

"I don't know about you, but I've felt a lot better these past couple days. And I don't really think I love you either, but I really like you and I want you to be my girlfriend."

Dawn hopped up from the couch and scooped up Drake in a hug. "Thank you."

Drake gently pulled away and looked at Dawn. "Hey, let's do something together, you, me, and Lola."

"Yeah, I can't wait to really get to meet her. She seems so sweet and innocent," Dawn giggled.

So Dawn resumed getting ready, while Drake sat on the uncomfortable couch and watched some sports. Dawn walked out in a t-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. "Are you ready?" she asked.

"Of course, let's go," Drake smiled as he squeezed her hand and escorted her out the door. They climbed down a few stories of stairs, and jumped in Drake's El Camino. As they drove up to Josh's house, Drake parked his car out front and hopped out to open Dawn's door.

Drake burst through the front door joking, "Hey, brotha!" He stopped dead in his tracks, when he saw Josh and Mindy sitting on a couch across from Marie and a strange man. Apparently the kids were playing in another room.

Josh stood up, "Hey Drake, can you and Dawn please take a seat?"

"What's going on?" Drake asked as he and Dawn shuffled over to an empty spot on the couch.

"Marie is here to discuss the legal situation of your family," Mindy explained. "As a group we plan to discuss things such as property, children, and personal belongings."

"Please don't take my daughter away from me," Drake looked up at Marie with solemn eyes.

"Drake, she's my daughter too. As far as I'm concerned, I worked harder for her," Marie stared back.

Drake stood to his feet in anger, "Then why'd you leave her? She obviously means nothing to you."

"Drake, take a seat, please," Mindy said calmly. Drake sat down and picked up a custody paper.

"She means the world to me, Drake! It's just you I can't stand," Marie said.

"Well, you can take the house, the furniture, whatever you want, because all I really need right now is my daughter and my girlfriend."

"Actually Drake, the house already belongs to Marie, since you failed to sign the deed. Most of the furniture belongs to Marie, as well since the contracts are signed out to her," Mindy clarified.

"Babe, just take the stuff. We don't need the kid, we can make a new one," the man whispered.

Marie giggled, "Drake, I hereby claim all of my belongings. But you can keep the couch because you slept on it most of the time, anyways. As for Lola, she means a lot to me, but I know you want her more. And that's less money for me to spend anyways, so you can keep full custody of her."

Drake held his hand to his forehead and sighed, thinking it over. "Fine," he said after a few minutes. "Lola means more to me than a bunch of junk anyways."

They both signed the papers, and Marie and her boyfriend stood up to leave. "Oh, I almost forgot," she said, "This is my new boyfriend, Troy. Who's your new cuddle buddy?"

Dawn's eyebrows shot up. She stood and said, "I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself. My name is Dawn."

Drake sort of chuckled, as Marie threw her purse over her shoulder and stomped out of the door, with Troy trailing close behind. "I guess she wasn't expecting you to be so nice and sweet," he smiled at Dawn.

"Drake, what are you going to do?" Josh asked. "You don't have a home anymore. We all know your job can't pay for a place to live very long, and you don't have any of your accessories or anything."

"Well, I'm gonna get some of the guys together, and we'll go move all of my clothes, personal items, and my couch out of the house. I'll ask my boss for a raise, he knows I've been working hard lately," Drake answered calmly. He hugged Dawn with one arm, "We'll get through this."


	4. Chapter 4

"No, actually," Drake interrupted himself. "I don't think it will be okay. I'm 30 years old and I'm homeless."

"Drake, you don't even have to worry about me. I'll be fine. My friend, Lindsay, has an extra bedroom and I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I moved in for a little while," Dawn reassured.

"And Drake, you and Lola can stay here with us. We were just about to buy a new bed for Rachael, so Lola can use her old one for a while. And the couch is always open to you," Josh cracked a smile.

Drake nodded, "As long as that's fine with Mindy."

Mindy snickered, "As long as you don't walk in on us anymore." She stuck out her tongue playfully.

Drake walked into work that day to see that one band again, DNAB. "So, we're looking for a small gig today. Anything in particular you want to suggest?"

Kyle sighed, "My mom owns a pizza parlor and they have live entertainment Saturday nights. We wouldn't get paid though."

"We just need publicity," Marie spoke up.

"Pizza parlor it is, then," Drake agreed. "Here's things you need to do before Saturday, and you only have six days to do them. By the end of today, I'll have flyers made. One of you has to come get them around four. Post them at school, on the pizza parlor, local community centers, wherever it's legal and appropriate. Next, get some sort of wardrobe put together, but listen to me closely: **you cannot all match.** You have no idea how many bands come in here wanting to look like the Olsen twins. Sometime this week please send me some sort of visual of your clothing, whether e-mail or you can bring in the actual clothes. Also, I'd like to have you check all your amps and instruments including getting extra strings, sticks, and cords. Any problems, call me immediately. Don't worry, I made a copy of all this for all of you. My number and e-mail are at the bottom, so please don't hesitate to contact me."

They all nodded solemnly.

"Drake," Brian said in a squeamish tone, "We changed our band name."

"Yeah," Ryan added in a twin manner, "now we're Free Parking."

"Any reasons for this name or were you guys high playing monopoly?" Drake chuckled.

"Well we were thinking of you," Matt said.

"And eventually we just found free parking," Marie said.

Kyle continued, "Yeah and it works perfectly because free parking is that space in monopoly when you get all the money and we wanna make it big time."

Drake's smile dropped. For once, someone had thought of him, to recognize him in a way that would make him proud for centuries. "I want you guys to listen to a song."

When they all pulled up chairs to an old boombox sitting on Drake's desk, Drake popped in an old CD and pressed the play button. Marie bopped her head to the beat of the song and the boys sat nodding at the wonderful use of instruments and such. The music ended and they all sat, expressing smiles because the music had given them an essence of joy.

"Who wrote that?" Matt asked.

Drake stared at him, "Me."

"That's your song!?! How come you're not famous?" Brian asked in shock.

"That's my point. That song was brilliant, it made tons of money. But one big hit didn't make me famous. It just gave me a little moment in the sun," Drake said. "With all that money, I was too distracted by girls, cars, and money and one day it all just blew up in my face. My cars and houses got repossessed, the girls left me and the money was just gone."

"That sucks," Ryan said solemnly.

"Yeah it does," Drake nodded, "But the lesson is that you can't let material things distract you from what you really want. If I hadn't chased all those rock and roll dreams around, maybe I would be famous, and maybe I wouldn't be stuck here leading a miserable life."

"I'm sorry," Marie said, "But I promise that I will work my hardest to achieve my dreams." And when all the other band members promised, Drake smiled and nudged them out the door.

An hour later, Drake was hard at work at designing a flyer for Free Parking when Dawn knocked on his office door.

"Hey Drake," Dawn greeted, "How's work been?"

Drake snickered, "Better than the rest of my crappy life."

Dawn sighed, "Well I took Lola shopping, but all we got was matching pink sequined purses because Lola insisted she needed something to hold her strawberry lip balm Marie got for her."

Drake smiled, "Thanks. Don't worry honey, we'll be back on our feet shortly. I have a very good feeling about this new band I'm working with and I feel like that if they can get their big break, I can get mine too."

"Drake," Dawn asked, "When's the last time you played guitar?"

"I don't know, why?"

"You might be able to get your big break."


	5. Chapter 5

I feel really bad because somebody told me to update soon and it's been like two years

I feel really bad because somebody told me to update soon and it's been like two years. :s

Yeah, and I don't remember where I was going with the last cliffhanger so I'm just gonna try to make something up.

Two hours later, Drake stood in jeans and a Beatles t-shirt on a small stage in a dimly-lit coffee shop. His daughter sat with Josh and Mindy in a table near the front and his beautiful, timid girlfriend, Dawn stood right next to him on stage. When she had said she had an idea, Drake was about to do backflips but now he felt like he might pee his pants in front of the almost crowded coffee shop. It wasn't just the people, in fact he had been playing in front of more people than this when he was fourteen. No, the pee-in-the-pants-factor was the man in the gray business suit wearing a blue button down and a silver tie sitting in the closest seat to the front staring directly at him. This man held so much power: he was the man that made Drake homeless or wealthy. He was the man that made Drake a household name or a nobody. This was the talent scout looking for a nobody to make famous. This was Dawn's step-father.

Suddenly, Drake felt his fingers move to the song he had written a few years ago. All Drake could think about was striking the wrong chord or hitting a wrong note and his almost-career was over. He was stuck in an office listening to teenagers wanting to "make the big-time" and being reminded of his younger self everyday for thirty years or so until he could retire. Or maybe his rich aunt would suddenly realize she didn't need her money and give it all to him. Yeah, that's a dream.

After a few seconds, Drake felt his lips move and his vocal chords vibrate. He was singing. He was singing his own words. The words he had written for his newborn daughter a few years ago. Visions of newborn Lola filled his eyes along with a single tear in each pupil. He blinked. After the first verse, Dawn joined in singing the harmony to his chorus. Drake smiled, especially when he looked at Lola and saw her singing the well-known words. He had forgotten that when Lola was younger he used to sing this very song to her as a lullaby.

His hands moved accordingly to how he memorized the song. He didn't even have to think about which chords to play, his hands just moved there. The song was almost over and Dawn's step-father, the man with Drake's life in his hand, was looking pretty stunned. Whether that was a good stunned or a bad stunned also had Drake in the pee-in-the-pants state. The song came to an end, and Drake stood frozen still holding his hands in the position of the last note. Claps resounded, and a few young women wiped their eyes. Applause echoed in the small coffee shop, but Drake didn't care. He was still frozen, eyes staring at Dawn's step-father.

As Dawn put the microphone back and stepped off the stage, Drake followed, setting his guitar on the stage.

"That was great!" Josh exclaimed as he approached Drake and Dawn about fifteen minutes later when the crowd had died down.

"Thanks," Dawn giggled nervously. Suddenly the world stood still for only about three seconds when Dawn's step-father, Jared, approached the group.

Drake's muscles tensed. The moment of truth.

"Good afternoon," Jared said with his hand outright to be shaken. "Jared Daniels, Varsity Records."

"Hey Jare," Dawn said warmly.

"Nice to meet you," Drake said nervously while shaking his hand.

"Honestly I was…" he paused for a second. Drake's mind panicked. I was… disappointed. I was… embarrassed. I was… angry that I took the time to listen to that horrid song. I was… mad. Laughing. Amused at your puny efforts. A million different thoughts invaded his mind in the brief pause Jared had taken. "I was amazed," he finally added.

There was the pee-in-the-pants-factor. The relief flowed almost a little too much and Drake could only imagine Jared laughing and taking back his compliment after seeing the pee drip from Drake's jeans.

"You were amazed?" Drake asked.

"Of course, I have never ever ever seen such amazing talent from somebody without even a small contract. You are going to be BIG."

Dawn squealed and hugged Drake. "Oh my goodness! You're going to be famous! You're going to be rich, Drake!"

Drake smiled, "No honey, we're gonna be famous and we're gonna be rich. I want you to be my harmony forever."

"Forever?"

"Yes. I know I want to marry you, but not just yet. Maybe a year or two from now. And once I have the money to buy you a ring, I will. I'll get you the best ring in the store."

She smiled, "So like, your proposing to me?"

"Yes!" he laughed. "Thank you so much, Mr. Daniels but I really have to get going. The band I am managing is having a performance in an hour or so down the street and I need to make sure everything is good."

"Wow, a young band? Our label was actually looking for a teenage band with a good alternative sound. Do you mind if I come?" Jared asked.

"Um, yes of course, I'd love it."

And so many hours later, Free Parking had performed and Jared was beaming. "I'm going to get such a big raise for this!" he exclaimed. He pulled out his phone, punched in a number and talked excitedly into it, "Yes, hello Mr. Garret. The Drake Parker guy my step-daughter was telling me about is just what we were looking for, I'm going to bring him in for you to listen. Yes, yes, he's amazing. And, yeah I know you're going to love me for this. I'm standing in a small pizza parlor with a teenage band called Free Parking with an alternative music sound and I'm going to bring them in for you to listen to as well. Yes, I think they're going to be even bigger than the Parker kid, (no offense)," he said while covering his phone with his hand.

When he had hung up, Drake was dizzy. Two weeks ago, he was married and working at a dead end job. Now he had an amazing fiancée and a record contract. Life had gone by so fast in the past days, but Drake just knew that that was his life. He had married Marie after getting her pregnant only six weeks after they had started dating. He had broken off so many relationships after only a week or so because he knew there were so many options and he was the one who had to try all of them. Now, he figured he had finally found the missing puzzle piece of his life and from now on, he would take his time with his decisions. But then again, once you're in the fast lane, it's way too hard to get out. ;)


End file.
